This weekend marks J. Cole's 33rd birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to feature him in this week's #TBT? The rapper sat down with Fuse in 2013 to discuss his recording process, competing against Kanye West, and how "Let Nas Down" let just about everyone down.

On boldly pushing up the Born Sinner release date to compete with Yeezus, Cole explains, "That's just how I am, man. It wasn't even a second thought...I'm not gonna sit in the shadows of a Kanye West album."

The North Carolina native also admitted that the negative feedback to "Let Nas Down," the single he'd hoped would blow up, truly hurt him. Cole never expected to get called out by Nas himself, who wasn't sold on the song.

"I'm getting defensive [on the phone] because they didn't know what I had to go through. But I was hurt. Really. On the inside, I was really hurt. Because I really idolized Nas," he says.

Below, watch J. Cole discuss what it was like witnessing Born Sinner leak online 10 days ahead of its official release: